Houthis Race to Own Property in Sanaa

FILE PHOTO: A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo
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Houthis Race to Own Property in Sanaa

FILE PHOTO: A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi/File Photo

Houthi leaders and commanders in Yemen’s Sanaa have expanded their purchases of a variety of real-estate in the war-torn country’s capital, local sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat.

The purchases are suspected of being a part of a larger money laundering and settlement scheme mounted by the militias.

A new class of leaders and commanders affiliated with the Houthi group have been spearheading a systematic settlement movement, taking advantage of the Houthi control over Sanaa and the group’s plundering of state and private sector funds, well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Real-estate agents in Sanaa revealed that Houthi leaders are suspiciously racing to acquire ownership over the largest amounts of villas and land plots whether in the north or south of the capital.

According to agents, Houthis are paying above asking prices to lure landlords into selling.

Sources pointed out that the Houthi group is focusing its real-estate purchases on property located on the outskirts of the capital, especially on the southern, eastern and western fronts. They are also making purchases in the capital’s center.

A Houthi leader, according to a source speaking under the conditions of anonymity, had recently bought a residence in Sanaa for 600 million Yemeni rials (around $1 million). The Houthi commander then demolished the house and began construction on a new building with specific characteristics.

The source, familiar with the commander, said that before the coup, he was too poor to afford gas, but is now one of Sanaa’s richest figures.

Yemeni diplomat Abdel-Wahhab Tawaf has slammed militia leaders and commanders of plundering the money of Yemenis and channeling the stolen funds into buying property to serve the group’s sectarian agenda.

Tawaf exposed one of the Houthi leaders for buying a land plot in Sanaa for $10 million.



Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)

Syria on Saturday detained a prominent Damascus-based Palestinian official whose group was close to the government of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Talal Naji, 79, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, or PFLP-GC, was detained Saturday morning shortly after he left his house with a driver and two guards, a Palestinian official told The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, added that shortly after Naji was detained near his home in the Mazze neighborhood, security officials came to his home and questioned two unarmed guards for about an hour.

A Syrian government official told the AP that Naji was taken for questioning and should be released later. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The PFLP-GC became known for dramatic attacks against Israel, including the hijacking an El Al jetliner in 1968 and the machine gunning of another airliner at Zurich airport in 1969. In 1970, it planted a bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, killing all 47 on aboard.

Naji’s arrest comes nearly two weeks after Syrian authorities detained two members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. The group identified the two officials arrested at the time as its leader in Syria Khaled Khaled and another senior official Yasser Zafari. The Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Under Assad, several Palestinians factions were based in Syria and some of them remained after the fall of his 54-year Assad family in December.